My Wonderings

• RT @TrinityWallSt: The Sermon: the root word for "health" is the same as the root word for "salvation." Health and salvation. #
• RT @frwarren: RT @hermitjrnl: “Biblical orthodoxy without compassion is surely the ugliest thing in the world.” — Francis Schaeffer #
• RT @TrinityWallSt: The Sermon: Health & salvation are all abot relatnshp. As Christns, we're offerd an incredi relationship w God thruJesus. #
• I have a new girl crush in Susan Graham. That was the best I've ever heard! #
• Susan Graham performing Shubert's Ave Maria' might make up for previous piece #
• the closed communion in the rc church is unfortunately and very awkward at the kennedy funeral #
• Placido domingo and Yo-Yo Ma performing Panis Angelicus (Cesar Franck) at Kennedy funeral. not too shabby! #
• I'm not crazy about the offertory piece Yo-Yo Ma is now performing: J.S. Bach's Sarabande from Cello Suite No. 6. at Kennedy's funeral #
• The prayers of the people are obviously written by the grands and greats about Teddy's vChristian values (I'm crying, this is so moving) #
• Prayers of the People are being read by the young Kennedy's (grands, neices, nephews) so beautiful ,expression of legacy of the faith!!! #
• According to parish priest's funeral sermon, Ted Kennedy's guiding prayer = The Magnificat!!! how fantastic. #
• Excellent gospel reading choice for Kennedy funeral "do for the least of these" I guess the gospel has a lot to say about politics #
• Like it! Can u see anyway it can sound weird or sexual? Let's get erics eyes too. #
• I thought that if I added #fb to any tweet that it would show up on my facebook? #
• RT @blakehuggins: this guy took #followfriday pretty literally http://bit.ly/lczee//Fantastic Funny!!! Thx #
• Do any of you all play geocaching? It sounds fun and can you do it on a blackberry? #fb http://bit.ly/vTh2S #
• RT @FatherFrankie: Children are a blessing from the Lord. (Repeat as often as necessary!)// How True! #
• RT @singin4christ86: Holy Eucahrist with Bishop Doyle at the Rothko Chapel at 7 come check it out! #
• RT @mrgassy: get your Rothko on… Come down to Rothko Chapel for the young adult Eucharist. http://bit.ly/x1unx #episcopal #ecgc #
• No, so I haven't pissed off all the tree huggers #
• Yes, do. I told him to follow folk who were following him and I think he looked at my activity. #
• RT @TexasBishop: #episcopal Great missionary opportunity for episcopal church, help Merrill, learn how here: http://bit.ly/n1Rtw #sxsw #
• Anyone know how is a blog carnival different than a blogosphere? #
• RT @sarahgbennett: RT TexasBishop How Do You Build A Kingdom? Check out my podcast: http://bit.ly/itvQW http://twitpic.com/fh3ug #
• RT @TexasBishop What Is Missionary Stewardship? Check out podcast: http://bit.ly/2TCaWR http://twitpic.com/fh35l #
• RT TexasBishop How Do You Build A Kingdom? Check out my podcast: http://bit.ly/1ycyMg #
• RT @rosaleeharden: Kennedy's response to being asked why he cared so much about poverty: "Have you never read the New Testament?" #
• Good thinking!!
  @vagabondfaith #ecafe http://twubs.com/ecafe in reply to vagabondfaith #
• I just became a member of the Twub for #ecafe at http://twubs.com/ecafe #
• RT @TexasBishop: is the cross all there is to Christianity or does God intend something more? #ecgc #episcopal #
• Question: What is the tweet etiquette -grammar regarding RT, forward slash, opinion? #
• pray, then for our brother, Ted, that he may rest from his labors, &enter into the light of God's eternal sabbath rest http://bit.ly/vrKLM #
• RT @msherrard: Jesus prayed to heal the sick. Rep. Michele Bachmann prays for them not to receive health insurance: http://tr.im/x5rs #
• Good stuff! Grace and Redemption … RT @frwarren: Put-Pockets? http://is.gd/2y2Oc #
• who do you consider to be the leading expert of social media in Austin, TX? #sxsw #
• who do you consider to be the leading expert of social media in Austin, TX? #
• Please answer me this: What is fair market value (hourly rate) to manage a public figure's social media presence? #

Powered by Twitter Tools

• Lobster-rama at Napi's in Provincetown prior to show http://mypict.me/noDs #
• New blog by episcopal Bishop Andy Doyle @TexasBishop Read and RT and follow! http://bit.ly/4sP9JV #ecgc #
• New blog by Bishop Andy Doyle @TexasBishop Read and RT and follow! http://bit.ly/4sP9JV #
• Good Morning Glory(ous) Twitter. Life is good. I am not in Texas, still. #

Powered by Twitter Tools

• Mac's Shack famous Wellfleet oysters. http://mypict.me/m7IB #
• I'm preparing for Provincetown by singing showtunes and gesturing with jazz hands. #
• RT @julieunplugged: "Frame your views in a way that make them accessible even to non-supporters." feminist bloggers panel #nn09 #
• Left Pound Ridge and headed to Wellfleet #fb http://mypict.me/lW2F #
• Megan and nephew Harry in rock garden http://mypict.me/lTdD #
• Ed's house is bucolic http://mypict.me/lSph #
• In grand central station with Megan headed to bedford hills to meet up with Ed #fb http://mypict.me/lPYq #
• iI'm off to NYC to meet up with my favorite girl in the whole wide world @mobennett http://bit.ly/hb1Nw #
• What does your faith have to do with the healthcare debate? http://bit.ly/w2E8J episcopal #ecgc #
• I'm visiting my brother in Wellfleet tomorrow. Apparently, there's a beach and I'm expected to wear and to bring a bathing suit. #
• It could always be worse; I could be expected to go camping, for pete's sake. #
• RT @ubuntutheology: Twitter spirituality http://tinyurl.com/mc65xg Plz RT if useful (via @Liturgy) #
• Isn't there a Gilbert & Sullivan song about a mouse or cat singing Titwillow something? #
• RT @MHMorgan: RT @tpcjames: Why is grace so messy and difficult? I guess if it was nice and neat everyone would already be doing it. #
• Just listened to great interview: Dr. Diana Butler Bass talks of history& future-of church w Peter Wallace: Day1 Podcast http://ow.ly/jQTS #
• Waaa? RT @fitfigmom: Yikes: RT @JessicaValenti 50% of Americans think women should b forced 2 take husbands' last names http://tiny.cc/yAzSf #
• RT @petersagal: Watching Obama personally strangle Stephen Hawking to death with Presidential Medal of Freedom. #
• is anybody else experiencing trouble with IGoogle today? #
• grocery store bound! unfortunate that I'm so hungry. this could be very ugly #
• I don't get the porn^> accounts who randomly follow– is it for $$$, shock value, ???? can someone tell me? #
• RT @TexasMonthly: ITP: The Death Panels are coming! The Death Panels are coming! Mass hysteria! http://bit.ly/oT4LM #
• RT @johnleesandiego: RT @crewislife: http://twitpic.com/dm7eb – Never add your boss on Facebook! Epic FAIL! #
• Help NYC Tweeters! My daughter just moved to city and is looking for great bagels around Lincoln Center area. Suggestions? @mobennett #
• playing around with colored pencils while keeping my recuperating dogs quiet and still. [pic] http://ff.im/6teno #
• Hi, Episcopalians! Join this friendfeed group for networking, bonding, sharing and caring! http://ff.im/6qDto #ecgc #episcopal #
• I've set my reminder to catch this radio show live today. it sounds interesting! Greg S. Reid, Filmmaker &… http://ff.im/6s0pb #
• Twitter Opera!! http://bit.ly/3pNNlJ
  http://ff.im/6rYaR #
• I'm loving these pillows; gotta figure out how to show Lainie. http://bit.ly/19roZi
  http://ff.im/6rUIE #
• Nice tweet! RT @oueed: Having a dim night of the soul. #
• Hi, Episcopalians! Join this friendfeed group for networking, bonding, sharing and caring! http://ff.im/6qDto #ecgc episcopal #
• Hi, Episcopalians! Join this friendfeed group for networking, bonding, sharing and caring! http://ff.im/6qDto #
• Dog drama is over for now. Lucy birthed her tumor and Sadie got her stomach pumped. Now we rest. http://twitpic.com/df369 #
• Checking out Chedd's gourmet grilled cheese http://mypict.me/jb4Z #

Powered by Twitter Tools

• How to Use your LinkedIn Profile – a Checklist http://ow.ly/iZmE from @messagemedium on Inc. Magazine #
• Great blog post by #ecgc Tweetopalian RT @jeffreyshy Blogging "True Anglican Unity" http://bit.ly/wwtFO #
• Check this video out- Exposing the PR Firms Behind the Fake "Grass Roots" Anti-Healthcare Move. http://bit.ly/RSKR0 #
• This is hilarious! RT @lgbtlife: Mmmm, hairy butt crack (or: Cool Tim Allen grunt, grainy webcam guy!) #lgbt http://bit.ly/3l3MN1 #
• RT @tremendousnews: The Real Reason Why Twitter Went Down! http://bit.ly/4DdnVq #
• Episcopal (ians) who love traditional hymns! Join this Youtube Group and contribute. 36 hymns added yesterday! #ecgc http://bit.ly/Sjglt #
• they would have to give her general anaesthesia #
• it's been getting bigger for a month; doesn't seem to hurt, but oozes #
• Another link of another pic of dog's hematoma http://twitpic.com/cszws #
• New link of dog hematoma http://twitpic.com/cszp0 #
• Help Twitter friends: someone know a vet that can help advise me with my dog's hematoma? Ihttp://bit.ly/Ef5Gq #
• Absolutely! RT @timbrauhn: Remember how sweet the end of Slumdog Millionaire was? I sure do. #
• Join this YouTube Group and let's make an online Virtual Hymnal 1982 playlist http://bit.ly/Sjglt #ecgc #
• Brilliant Article — highly recommend reading "Homosexuality and Anglican Debate" http://bit.ly/3gimun #ecgc #
• RT @kevin_sparrow: RT @episcopalcafe Oh, my! Someone seems to have woken up the Church of England http://bit.ly/ufrCB //love that title!// #
• RT @JesusNeedsNewPR: Right. I totally asked the Apostle Paul to come into my heart. But he & Jesus argued a little too often 4 my taste. #
• Can't Bill, Steve et al figure out how to protect and serve? RT @cnn: Marines ban Twitter, Facebook, other sites http://bit.ly/TfEuB #
• Good Morning Glory(ous) Twitterverse! #
• We're on a mission from God and we need your help! We need a sewing machine in NYC!!! for donation #
• ^sbGood Morning Glory(ous) Twitterverse! #
• I uploaded a YouTube video — My 5×5 feet http://bit.ly/bU1Ej #
• My first video: 5×5 Feet. You'll be ablel to say you knew me when … http://vimeo.com/5898938 #

Powered by Twitter Tools

• File under "That'll Preach" a video of Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale on Vimeo! http://vimeo.com/5732745 #
• RT @mass_writer: First artist name attempt: Dog Johnson (eventually: Cat Stevens) #failfirstnames #
• going with the Old Man to sell a car, eat some Tex-Mex and is still tee-heeing from earlier mischief http://twitpic.com/ces3z #
• Justin Timberlake wasn't the first to bring sexy back. ♫ http://blip.fm/~ay796 #
• RT @JosephPMathews: RT @texasnate: Today is Friday. Brought to you by the letters A,R,G and H. !!!! #
• #followfriday check out @swancommarachel my new friend, Christian, activist, loving, generous, sensitive, real #
• #followfriday check out @RogueReverend who hasn't forgotten that God has a sense of humor and loves life! #
• #followfriday Check out @jonathanbenz an Emergent emerging from the > 100 follower and looking for real engagement #
• dadgum! I sure feel loved right now; thank you for your sincerity @RogueReverend @swancommarachel @jonathanbenz #
• RT @gideony: If your first response to 'love thy neighbor' is 'who's my neighbor' … UR doing it wrong #
• RT @DebraLBrock: 'Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.' Abraham Lincoln #
• In homage to John Caputo, I'm going to write a blog postentitled 'Why I Suck at Keeping Secrets" #
• ^sb this ^sb mark is a "signature" I just heard about (a 'sig') that let's u know it's me (as opposed to my publicist?) hahaha #
• ^sb Does anyone know of this trackle and its reputation? (other than trackle!) http://ow.ly/iGX1 #
• #HootSuite 2.0 moved into free public beta today! I upgraded at http://hootsuite.com/upgrade #
• The weather is lousy, I'm broke and still waiting. So I fixed me some iced coffee, listening to some XTC and ch… ♫ http://blip.fm/~avtqr #
• It's hot, rainy and I'm broke. Sipping some iced coffee and listening to XTC to see if I can feel better about … ♫ http://blip.fm/~avtg8 #
• my new "Mad Men" inspired avatar. #
• Are You The Favorite Person of Anybody? http://bit.ly/Ip6QZ #
• One of the songs that always makes me feel happy. ♫ http://blip.fm/~av6sz #
• Today's ? of Day from CAC http://bit.ly/sWMnM
  http://bit.ly/zKX9T #
• Good Morning Glory(ous) Twitterverse! #
• http://www.eyemajic.co.nz/index.html http://ff.im/5Uvd7 #
• Fwd: Pillows For Working Late – http://www.majagan.com/pillowforworkl.html (via http://ff.im/5SEbn) [pic] http://ff.im/5Ujl8 #
• Fwd: Tracy Raver – http://www.tracyraver.com (via http://ff.im/5SDOT) [pic] http://ff.im/5UikP #
• RT @dtatusko: RT @aegisnyc: Charlotte's Wet #failedchildrensbooktitles #
• RT @dtatusko: look mom, another cannibal! …mom? #failedchildrensbooktitles #
• I think my blog post link is now working. The Ubiquitous Theology of God-as-a-Mean-Girl: the heresy of http://bit.ly/ZfvhH #
• I think my blog post link is now working. The Ubiquitous Theology of God-as-a-Mean-Girl: the heresy of individual salvation. http://bit. … #
• Check out my profile to see the new Twitter background I created from
  TwitBacks.com #twitbacks http://tinyurl.com/6owdfd #
• RT @HeyToepfer: @sarahgbennett my fave from @EsElQueso: Charlie and the Chocolate Sweatshop #failedchildrensbooktitles #
• It's really hard for me to concentrate on my work with these hilarious failed childrens book titles constantly pinging #
• I'm having computer problems — taking break 2 watch tv of middleaged women having psychotic breakdowns — murderous rage! #
• Does anyone know why a 404 msg would appear in wordpress comment area? #
• Good Morning Glory(ous) Twitterverse! #
• However, as a chick priest and one that naturally pisses some off, I'm really not a fan of #donatism #
• my blog is on heresy but not on the heresy of #donatism #
• RT @kevin_sparrow: @JosephPMathews totally waiting for #donatism to be a Trending Topic. #
• Ah hah! Now I have committed myself. RT @buddhapalian: @sarahgbennett looking forward 2 the blogpost on "heresy of individual salvation"! #
• On the other hand, this Jubilate Deo can hardly be beat! @JosephPMatthews ♫ http://blip.fm/~arifg #
• There Is A Balm In Gilead @JosephPMatthews ♫ http://blip.fm/~arhcd #
• Religion without Religion, Caputo style: RT @frwarren: Richard Leroy Walters http://is.gd/1RbA1 #
• Good Morning Glory(ous) Twitterverse! Hoping to blog on the heresy of individual salvation today. #
• RT @kevin_sparrow: GOD'S RESIGNATION SPEECH http://bit.ly/m5KF8 //God apparently has a slightly better copy editor too. #
• To Sen. Kay B. Hutchison: We need quality health insurance for every family in our nation now http://bit.ly/DWsN8 #hc09 #TX #78750 #
• RT @keepercaines34: RT @GayRainArmy: Palin: "God's grace helps those who help themselves"-SoManyTheolog f-ups n sntnc don't kno where2start. #
• Has anybody tried out the Twitter Blocks application? #

Powered by Twitter Tools.

I am a cradle Episcopalian. This is a term some use in an elitist way, similar to FFV (First Families of Virginia).  It connotes a legitimacy, an authority, a  really real-nes. After serving on numerous Episcopal church staffs, there’s an additional connation to which I associate the label — a sense of stuckness, a rigidity, a conservative ecclesiology uninterested in new perspectives. And God forbid someone suggest to a cradle Episcopalian that the baptismal font be moved to another location in the church.

As a cradle Episcopalian, I was naively comfortable with my unquestioned, theological perspectives until I went away to college and met some evangelicals in Campus Crusade for Christ. They wanted to know if I was saved; if I knew Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior.  I was baffled that my membership in the Episcopal Church did not satisfy their soteriological criteria.   Apparently, I needed to recite a formulaic prayer and if I didn’t remember the exact day that I had uttered this prayer, then I could bet my bottom dollar (or worse, my eternal life) that my name was not written in The Book. It didn’t seem to be relevent that I regularly prayed to God or received the Eucharist as if I thought Jesus was my Lord and Savior. That didn’t count.

By this time, I had eighteen years of experience as a girl, playing with other girls, and I knew that the strong and mighty of the playground could be quite tyrannical and gnostic about the rules that granted admittance to the In Crowd or relegated one to the Out Crowd of the stupid and uncool. Basically, I was being taught a theology of God-As-A-Mean-Girl. But what did I know? I was afraid I had been delusional in my snobbish sense of status or stuck in stupidity and it was possible that we cradle Episcopalians weren’t as theologically with it as my evangelical, mostly non-denominational or Baptist friends. So I wrote that prayer down and recited it very carefully, word-for-word, every dot and tittle attended to deligently. [Don't even get me started with how I learned how many water molecules a valid baptism requires! and yes, I got that checked off my Things To Do list as quick as possible.]

Years later, after spending time getting as many people off the divine hook with my handy-dandy prayer and 4 spiritual laws, I found my way back to the Episcopal Church. Imagine my surprise when I heard, right there in the middle of the liturgy of Baptism, very BillBright-ish language. Apparently, the Episcopal Church had been ‘with it’ all along. Of course, that didn’t resolve the problem that it was mostly little, tiny episcopalians of cradle-age that were being saved by these words; words being said by someone else on the behalf of another. By this time, I was comfortable trusting the authority and traditions of the Episcopal Church. But I wanted to know exactly what we believed the divine rules to be. And not just about salvation. I wanted to know the rules about what we can or cannot say about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit; about sin, satan, sacraments, truth, confession, forgiveness; about speaking in tongues, contemplative prayer, social morality and social justice.  I didn’t want to be caught short by the next inquiring evangelical, or fundamentalist, or pentecostal.

I wanted to represent the Episcopal church well. So I started asking … and I started hearing, over and over again, “read the Book of Common Prayer.” As a recently re-re-baptized, re-re-born, re-convert, I was more than a little uncomfortable with the fingers pointing me to the Book of Common Prayer rather than the King James. But that’s who we are! Literally. My advisors were telling me to go to the prayer book because of the ancient and abiding principle, lex orandi, lex credendi, what we believe is what we pray. At first, this was not very satisfying. I wanted something strongly confessional in nature. I wanted something very black and white, very simple and very straightforward. But the Church, in her wisdom, knew better.

What the Church knew and had prepared through her liturgy, traditions and sacraments was that eventually I would need the mature solid food that is the ambiguous, paradoxical,  yes – and nature of theological truths.  The Episcopal Church (Anglicanism) was born out of the tension caused by the extremes of catholicism and the extremes of protestanism. She knew that it was wiser to wax poetic when talking of things divine and mysterious and beyond comprehension. She knew that in every sentence uttered as Truth there is also a grain of  ’not so’.  So can we say nothing or anything about something as important as God and salvation and eternal life?  How do we speak of such slippery stuff? My seminary professor, Dr. Bill Green, said, with just a tip of his tongue in cheek, that we should always ’sing’ the creeds to keep us from ever forgetting their non-prosaic nature.  Otherwise, we find ourselves in cross-hairs of the heretic police.

The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, The Most Rev. Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori, found herself in the cross-hairs recently when she said:

The overarching connection in all of these crises has to do with the great Western heresy – that we can be saved as individuals, that any of us alone can be in right relationship with God. It’s caricatured in some quarters by insisting that salvation depends on reciting a specific verbal formula about Jesus. That individualist focus is a form of idolatry, for it puts me and my words in the place that only God can occupy, at the center of existence, as the ground of being.

I was listening to her address live via the internet and when I heard this I thought, “Halleluiah! There is a God!”  Then I thought, “Praise the Lord, maybe there is some theology out there that I can hang my hat on.”  Then, I thought, “Hell yeah, mamma said it ‘cuz it needed to be said.” Then, I thought, “Oh shit! It is about to hit the fan.”  For this and a few other reasons, the Presiding Bishop is getting vilified by the religious right. It’s the fear of that vicious and vitrioloic attack that has kept me silent in the past. But I am so grateful for her courage to speak out and risk sharing her understanding of the truth that I feel compelled to hereby, metaphorically, stand beside her and proclaim “Amen.”

Let me assure —  real quick and right now — to anyone who is ready to quote verses from the Book of Romans at me, that I, too, appreciate the authority of the Bible.  But we have to quote the entire Bible because the entire Bible is the story of salvation, not just Paul’s Roman Road.  And that biblical story is a story about a people’s salvation, not an anthology of individual salvations strung together like a pearl necklace. It wasn’t Mr. Abraham’s salvation that mattered so much. It was the entire nation of Israel. It mattered so much that narratives about it were remembered and passed down. It mattered so much that Jesus is proclaimed savior of the world.  It mattered so much that learned people would devote a lifetime to studying it.

It is the theological doctrine of salvation is called soteriology. It is big. It is complex. It is a doctrine that has developed for centuries and continues to develop. St. Paul was not the first soteriological theologian. He inherited some good material from Isaiah. Athanasius, Augustine, and Anselm did some pretty impressive thinking on the subject before Luther nailed his salvific thesis. And with all due respect to my friends of the reformed tradition, the subject of salvation was not closed on the Wittenberg door. Barth, Bultmann, Gutierrez, Kung and Moltmann are just a few worthy examples of the exemplary thinkers on the matter. And not one of them ever concluded that the Answer was as simple and as easy as swearing an oath-like-prayer. Nor did any of them imply that this was an individual, personal or private matter. There certainly is an element of  individual choice and free will that is relevent but it isn’t the only thing that is part of this subject. The entire created order is part of the subject.  Faith certainly is a critical element, but so is grace. Works may not be the sole criteria, but they are certainly a part. And part of the work we are called to do is to think and to think as well as we can, so that at the end of our days, we might hear the One who created us thoughtful folk say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” In the meantime, go “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” And I mean that in the poetic, lyrical, sing-y way that also includes me, and others, those who have gone before us, and those who have yet to come, working, collaborating together, God’s earthly think tank.

• I'm #reading On Religion by John D. Caputo – http://tinyurl.com/ln5otv #
• Theologians!!!! I need a word that describes the opposite of 'being loved' like lovelessness, not hate, not apathy, but …. ? #
• Does anyone know how to use the Twitter Blocks graphic work? #
• Jesus' Facebook Page. @Docstoc – http://www.docstoc.com/docs/5268017 #
• Twitter Friends, I need help! Please click on this link and confirm me as the author to my blog so I can be 'verified' http://bit.ly/Ds4e2 #
• Just added myself to the http://wefollow.com twitter directory under: #socialmedia #episcopal #emergent #
• maybe some coffee will help. #
• I'm going to meditate with eyes closed, laying on my bed for 30 minutes. Then, I'm going to write something, be productive, get r dun. #
• + husband caught me smoking; got pissed; I sent him this ad as proof of the effects of smoking http://bit.ly/HPqmR #
• My husband wants me to work on writing a proposal; but I've got writer's crap. Nstead, I'll paint my toenails; I'm hope it'll distract him. #
• That your test is working and that this is a brilliant idea! http://posted.at/EqZ #
• Excellent, tx RT @sandraschubert I did this piece for @beliefnet Find Peace N Times o Chaos. It helps to remember. http://tinyurl.com/7a6sto #
• RT @cshirky: RT @acarvin: @cfarivar's post on recycling thumbdrives to send to Iran with anti-filtering software: http://bit.ly/fsRc1 #
• CAC ? of Day: When have I felt connected and aligned with God and reality? ☧ #
• "Well, you seemed too busy to call him a prat and I thought someone should." – Ginny Weasley #
• isn't it an oxymoron to have a pastoral word from virtue online? #
• R.I.P: Horace Boyer 1935-2009: Horace Boyer, editor of the Episcopal Hymnal, Lift Every Voice and Sing, a beloved music. http://bit.ly/wo9VK #
• Good night sweethearts, it's time to go …. #
• RT @gideony: An intellectual snob is someone who can listen to the William Tell Overture and not think of The Lone Ranger. – Dan Rather #
• RT @keepercaines34: RT @bradjward: I am showing webinar audience how quickly a msg can spread on Twitter. Would u please RT? #watchitspread #
• Please follow and RT #ecgc #episcopal RT @IkeRelief: Hello! This is Texas Episcopal Disaster Relief's first tweet. #
• RT Bellatrix Lestrange: Oh, he knows how to play, little bitty baby Potter. Very well, then -' I will go see for myself today at the theatre #
• Not sure how one can "make" that happen; it seems like involuntary mindset. RT @gideony: Radical, Inviolable Innocence http://cli.gs/L6Lzj #
• My ? of day: What prevents me from receiving the perfect gaze of God? cacradicalgrace.org #
• Good Morning Glory(ous) Twitterverse! #
• Still feeling just a wee bit out of touch. #

Powered by Twitter Tools.

One of the most heart-wrenching, gut-wrenching aspects of hospital chaplaincy is watching the panic-stricken face of an elderly person who suddenly and unexpectedly loses their spouse of, say, fifty some-odd years. There is a moment in that early stage of the grief process that the survivor realizes that they don’t know how to live without their companion or even if they want to live. I don’t mean in the sense that the pain is so great that life is unbearable. That is a horror shared by many different types of survivors in sudden death situations. I’m talking about a realization that dawn on widows who have lived so long and so richly at the side of a life-partner, that their entire world-view is dependent upon their mutual perspective. I’m not talking about when a survivor becomes aware that there are certain life functions that they now have to learn, such as balancing the checkbook or doing the laundry. Though, that is a real and difficult aspect of loss. I’m talking about a dawning realization that one no longer knows how to be without the other.  I’m talking about something on the level of breathing; of involuntary biological systems.

When I first became aware of this dynamic I was awe-struck by the power of a love that is so pervasive and long-lasting. I was awed by the psychological defenses that are necessarily built up to protect one from ever imagining life without their lover at their side. These widows were all smart, grounded, psychologically healthy people. They knew that no one lived for ever. They had watched their friends die and their friends survive. But they didn’t know what they didn’t know. It is an impossible knowing in a love this profound. When I first became aware of this dynamic I was afraid to look at it, afraid to be in its presence; because I, too, could not imagine for them a future. I was afraid I would fall to pieces and add to their pain. But I could no more leave them alone or pretend I didn’t notice what I saw. I just had to take a leap of faith and go over the edge.  And when I did step into that scary, frightening free-fall space with them, I stepped in to the Kingdom of God.

I stepped into that absolute future, the sphere of the impossible, terra incognita. This is the realm that God beckons us to join her; where you must leave all your known resources at the door. In this kingdom, there is only room for faith, hope and love. None of our past experiences or knowledge can help us here; for each time we enter, we must go empty handed. For we cannot truly know hope if we have not known hopelessness; we cannot recognize love if we have never known utter disregard; we cannot know faith if we’ve never known doubt. It is in this absolute future where the wild things are. It is in this land of unlikeness where Beauty falls in love with the Beast, where things that were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new. It is where the Impossible becomes possible. It is where the lion lays down with the lamb.

Have you ever had to walk into this Impossible Future? When? What happened? What did you find there?

What other images (songs, photos, art, literature, poetry) can you share that helps us to understand this Absolute Future from the foreseeable kind of future?

• J. Naughton: “Our church has not sought to increase the strain in the communion, but to redistribute it” #ecgc http://bit.ly/k5jXP #
• RT @TexasMonthly: Evan Smith remembers Walter Cronkite, the most trusted man in America: http://bit.ly/lSNUB #
• #ecgc Katherine is now my girl crush. Well, maybe Bonnie is. They both are such impressive women. I am proud of the way they rep us! #
• To you, GC HUB I give a standing ovation!!!!!!!! Thank you for everything. #ecgc #
• RT @rrchapman: A more traditional version for the closing of General Convention http://bit.ly/dJA9i #ecgc http://twubs.com/ecgc #
• #ecgc if you are directing your tweet to a specific person, or replying to a specific tweet, you add the @ sign to the user account name. #
• #ecgc the letters RT stand for ReTweet. Use that when you are re-broadcasting someone’s tweet. #
• #ecgc … if you CAN give names or diocese of bishop or deputy that you are referring, please do. #
• #ecgc … I would add quotes if there is any question that readers will mis-attribute your tweet as your own thoughts. #
• #ecgc …. i.e. I would start a tweet with HoB or HoD so we all know of which house you are commenting on. #
• #ecgc … I’m hoping we’ll all contribute to suggestions for ways to provide commentary based on our own needs. #
• I was warned never to RT a spam message because it might get you blocked also. #ecgc #
• If you’re “commentating” please add HoB or HoD at beginning so we’ll know to which House you are referring #ecgc. #
• PB talks about much of tension “out there” as a result of mis-information and the need to correct that #ecgc http://twubs.com/ecgc #
• remind me never to pray with my “pastoral” voice #
• Just talking to a spiritual companion about “loving the unlovable” and then I wondered — what if I’m that person for some people? #ecgc #
• My friend, radio host, and Episcopalian @sandraschubert has a great “Ubuntu” styled video http://bit.ly/1608P2 #ecgc http://twubs.com/ecgc #
• I can’t stand it when Twitter tells me I can’t follow myself; it really ‘misunderestimates’ my narcissism. #
• RT @episcopalcafe: Bp of Durham: HoB is “formalising schism initiated 6 years ago”: Wright, the Bp Durham . http://tinyurl.com/mslaox #ecgc #
• I am very frustrated that people seem to deliberately misconstrue a resolution (D025) thus creating a false voting environment; #ecgc #
• This is a very reasoned response to D025 from Bishop of TX who voted “no.” Good, pastoral tone I can listen to even if I disagree. #ecg … #
• Happy Birthday to a classic Tweetipalian, @MoAmy!!! One of the Twiteratti in the Episcopal HOD #ecgc http://twubs.com/ecgc #
• What I understand is D025 is a snapshot of the reality of our church, today. A “this is who we are” so to speak. No more, no less. #ecgc #
• New tweetup! Manic Monday TweetUp Marriott Lobby 9:30 pm. Tweet “yes #ev7-ecgc” to RSVP #ecgc http://twubs.com/ev7-ecgc #
• Ouch! RT @scottagunn: Youth rep: my involvement n activities n church not labeled “youth” hasbeen disheartening. #ecgc http://twubs.com/ecgc in reply to scottagunn #
• Hey guys! Come check out and join the Twub for Episcopal GC09 #ecgc at http://twubs.com/ecgc #

Powered by Twitter Tools.

Many people have been wondering with me about the purpose of Twitter. The Rev. Chuck Culpepper, of MS, likened it to the CB Radio of the Millenium; just a platform that allows many people to broadcast to many people. And it is that; but so much more. Back in the “BreakerBreakerGoodBuddy” days of old, one had to find a channel that was both static-free and one that your friends or others of value to you were also utilizing. With Twitter, static distraction is eliminated. Because of the search function, the number of available Twitter “channels” is equivalent to the total possible permutations of keys on the keyboard (letter/number/symbol.) Plus, there is no limit imposed by physical distance to a signal tower. Take a moment to wrap your brain around the implications! From anywhere in the world, anybody with internet access and a computer or smart phone can come together and have a conversation in real time. The only thing missing in Twitter (and I’m sure that will soon be resolved) is translating languages to your preference.

Those of us following the Episcopal Church General Convention 2009 created a “channel” entitled #ecgc. The acronym was for Episcopal Church General Convention. The # symbol is called a hashtag in twitter and it is used to indicate that this particular permutation of keystrokes is a deliberate combination formed for a specific group to track a conversation. We immediately realized that there were a few other streams of conversation about the convention being made so we formed a hub to gather all these streams together. Thus, the “Twub” was created at www.twubs.com/ecgc. This was a godsend for me; I didn’t have to remember to use my hashtag when I sent a message because it automatically added it for me. I could see the thumbprints of the pictures, videos and webpages that were linked with people’s messages without having to open the link at all. This made it easy to filter what I wanted to explore further. I could see a cool visual of our developing internet community through a grid of the faces/image associated with each Twitter account.

You may be wondering about the tweeps (people) who were part of this gathering. There were clergy and lay, conservative and liberal, young (20s) and not-so-old (60s), gay and straight, lovers of TEC and haters of TEC, attendees of convention and at-home folk like me. It was (go-figure) a gathering made up of folk much like the church! On the first day, we had a slam of porn spam that would have turned a blue-haired white. But that was quickly resolved by the Twub company who were probably more horrified and shocked than us Episcopalians! And we did have a “troll” try to impersonate “815″ but he or she was quickly exposed and we all campaigned to have that account terminated. If anything, that troll only accomplished bonding our group of disparate Anglicans together during a very contentious week.

And I know (from the many tweets of others) that I am speaking for many people when I say that there have been a lot of transformative moments in our little byte of the Twitterverse. Personally, I had an extraordinary exchange with a fellow priest from the diocese of TX who is a conservative greatly fearing the direction this convention is taking. We shared our stories, albeit in little 140 character chapters at at time. And in our exchange, I was healed a little bit more from some old wounds.

I witnessed folk ask for forgiveness when emotions got the best of them. I witnessed the previously uncomforted assure the previously comfortable that there would always be a warm welcome offered. I witnessed our group self-regulate by calling someone out when their tone became snarky. The group self-corrected when inaccurate information was given. The group collaborated when someone requested information that was not accessible to them. Our group self-organized with some folk volunteering to give play-by-play commentary for those without access to the GC HUB live feed. We even had internet DJs tweet dedicated song links to us. Some of our group were wondering if we could continue an online network of Episcopalians when convention concluded. To that I say: “That’s What I’m Talking About!!” Sign up at Episcopalians.pbworks.com to stay informed of our growing network.

And Warren, thanks for believing! Kurt and Joyce, thanks for making it happen. And to all my new friends: gideony, WhatOneCanDo, Kvoets, ktkimble, CarlosRAlvarado, scottagunn, JosephPMatthews, Liturgy, swancommarachel, gaytheologian, AuntScilly, bgclick, franklogue, davidrpeet, putmeinabox, GRobit625, loribythesea, FredinAtlanta, chaplain_mdiv10, mooregardening, Floridagordon, ktkimble, rrchapman, johnleesandiego, JeffreyShy, vagabondfaith, and a bunch more … thanks for being Church for me this week.